How to eat a 50,000 word elephant

Ok so I had one of those defining moments today. Not a define my life one but just for the morning. Unfortunately it came about an hour and a half before the alarm was to sound off. Dogs. My dogs. Yup, they decided they had to get up early just like we did on my Air Force Reserve recent weekend. And, they stinkers waited until Tuesday to pull this one. They wanted to get up, go out, play, snack and now, still an hour before it is time to get up, they are asleep on the foot of my recliner. I am defined as tired and under caffeinated. The only way to fix that is to start my day and caffeinate, one sip at a time.

I’m also using this time to write. I need every second these days. I’m embroiled in the National Novel Writing Month event. The goal is 50,000 words written during the month of November. That’s doable. Until I started doing it, I didn’t think I could write that much. Thats only 1,667 words a day. And they don’t have to be great. Meaning, do your best to tell a story but don’t dwell on producing publisher-ready copy every time you sit down with your paper or computer. I love the concept of NaNoWriMo because it gives you permission to mess up and press on. Because of that permission, the pressure is off. Getting to 50,000 should be pretty easy. I’ve been able to keep up in just an hour or two a day. But, I planned, plotted, made characters, drew little maps and daydreamed a bit about this story.

That same concept can be applied to any kind of writing. Many times the thought of doing a class paper, writing an article that is longer than normal or writing their first one is an overwhelming task. You know the questions, how many pages or how many words does it have to be. The same thought holds many people back until right before deadline and causes writers to just put something down on the paper to fill the block. We are all guilty of days like that but it shouldn’t be the normal way of doing our business. Writing may be an art, but it is also business.

The trick, the real trick, is to just start writing the story. No matter what you are writing, news, feature or a first novel, plan for it, tell yourself about the story information while driving or pacing , plot it and then attack it one word at a time, treat it like the business it is and get to work. Once you’ve thrown it all on the paper then edit. if you write down what you’ve told yourself about the subject, you’ll be at the end before you know it. The cool thing about that...is you can start the next one.

Now, a refill for my cup and back to work on those 50,000 words. I'll make it, one sip and one word at a time.